City Hall

Quebec nationalists may still have sore feelings about Richler's trenchant rebukes, making him a contentious figure for the city to celebrate. But he is, after all, a son of Montreal, who brought this city's vibrancy and diversity to life in his novels, in a tender if biting manner.

Since November, Montreal police officers have systematically carried out so-called protective searches at city hall, frisking members of the public with metal detectors and searching their bags as they enter the building during public meetings of council. The measures also apply to journalists after the police ask to see their press passes.

Thérèse Daviau wore pants to her first city council meeting in 1974. The detail may seem ho-hum – banal – but Daviau showed moxie in her wardrobe choice. It was an act of defiance against Montreal’s mayor at the time, Jean Drapeau.

The city of Montreal’s tendering process for a contract to organize a public consultation on the reconstruction of Ste-Catherine St. W. was “highly problematic,” the city’s newest corruption watchdog has found.

Bergeron was four, the story goes, when he built an accurate model of his orphanage from a set of building blocks. He was labelled brilliant, and perfect marks in high school, a degree in architecture and a master's and a doctorate in urban planning would go some way to backing that up.